Old Time Rock and Roll
by HarvestBeauty
Summary: The gang have a dance party. Group fic. Slight Larry/Terri content.


_A/N: I wanted to put Larry in a ridiculously good mood after making him so miserable in previous stories so, ta-dah! And of course, I wanted to show the potential for some Larry/Terri action. In case you couldn't tell, I've kind of got a thing for these two...tee-hee!_

_The inspirations for this story are numerous...the dance scene from the movie Pulp Fiction, the dance scene from the movie Liberty Heights (the one where they are dancing on the bed), even the kids dancing together in the Charlie Brown cartoon to that tune Linus and Lucy. I thought, why not get these people together and just let them have a good time?_

_Happy Halloween, everybody!_

"Jack..." Janet groaned. "The next time you're sick, please do Terri and I a favor and sleep at the bistro."

"Hey, how do you know it was me who got us sick? Terri works with sick people all the time! Maybe she's the one who brought this germ home!" Jack rasped, offended.

"Jack Tripper, you know perfectly well that you were the one who came down with this thing first, and then Janet and I caught it from you!" Terri sniffled, reaching for a tissue. "You probably caught it from one of the customers at the restaurant."

Jack grumbled. He, Janet and Terri were a sight. The three of them were sitting on the couch together in misery. Janet had a heating pad on her chest, Terri was nursing a warm cup of lemon water for her throat and Jack was slumped back against the cushions of the couch, feeling like he was slowly dying. It didn't matter who caught the bug first...when one of them got sick, they all got sick. Some Friday night this was going to be.

Larry knocked on the door using that special knock he always did.

"It's open, Larry!" Janet called.

The door opened and Larry came walking in, cluelessly cheerful.

"Hey, guys...are you all ready for tonight?" He asked.

"For what?" Jack wondered.

"I thought we were all going to go down to the Beagle to celebrate Janet's promotion tonight?" Larry informed him, the smile he had on his face fading. Slowly, he started to sense the lack of energy in the room. "Woah, what happened here? Everything okay?"

"Oh, Larry! We forgot all about it!" Janet's eyes widened. "See, we caught this terrible cold and-"

"All three of you caught the same cold at the same time?" Larry teased.

"Larry, this thing is no joke. Janet has a terrible headache that feels like it's settling behind her eyes, my throat is on fire and I can barely speak and Jack's ears are all stuffed up." Terri croaked pitifully.

"Oh, I see...kind of like a see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil type of thing going on." Larry cracked himself up with his own corny joke.

"Larry, cut it out." Jack sighed. "We're not in the mood for jokes. Or for parties."

"Oh, come on...lighten up, buddy. I think I know just what you need." Larry reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. He held a cassette tape up proudly. "A little music therapy. A mixtape created by yours truly. We could always have ourselves a little party right here."

"Larry, we feel like we're half dead!" Jack complained, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Telling the used car salesman that there wasn't going to be a party was like spewing blasphemy at him. He disappeared into Jack's room and emerged moments later holding a boombox. Seconds later, the room began to fill with the sound of the song Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger. It was a modern song, but a throwback to an earlier era of music...a loving tribute to 50's rock and roll.

"Larry!" Janet groaned.

Larry grinned and turned the music up even louder, the bass beginning to permeate through the walls.

"Check out that sound system!" Larry whooped, clapping in appreciation. "Wow!"

Larry placed the stereo down on that pesky step in the living room that they have all tripped over at least once before and ran over to the trio, circling around the couch to face them. He pushed the coffee table out of the way in order to make more room.

"Uh oh..." Jack, being a klutz, did not like where this was headed.

"That's right, Jacko!" Larry pointed at him playfully. "Dance party!"

Before anyone could utter another word in protest, Larry began going through an array of 60's dances. The swim, the monkey, the twist, the hitchhike. Despite feeling awful mere minutes ago, Terri, Janet and Jack had burst into uproarious laughter and had huge smiles on their faces. Nothing was a better pick me up than watching a friend make an ass of himself. Terri had a love for dance and found Larry surprisingly fun to watch. Sure, the dances were all dorky, but were executed with great enthusiasm and were on the beat. Terri tilted her head and fleetingly had thoughts about maybe getting up and teaching Larry to _really _dance...if he could mess around with the more modern 70's and 60's styles, then how would an older style from previous decades look on him? She knew he'd be really fun to try and teach, but would he take it seriously or just try to hit on her the whole time?

As if God read her mind, the next song on Larry's mixtape came on. It was not a tribute to older music but was actually a real golden oldie: Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day. Terri's heart skipped a beat...this was a perfect number to do a jive to. Larry caught the look on her face and grasped her hands, gently pulling her up off of the couch.

"I know that look, you want to dance!" Larry laughed, clapping his hands excitedly.

"Larry, I'm all gross and you might get sick from me..." Terri faltered, she thought she ought to warn him.

"I don't care." He said simply, shrugging without a care in the world.

Terri couldn't believe it, but she actually was feeling much better. She didn't know if the bass from the stereo was clearing her lungs and sinuses out or what, but she hardly felt sick at all now.

"Well, okay..." Terri grinned. "Do you know how to do the jive? It's a 50's dance, this song has the perfect beat for it."

"Is that the one that makes you look like you're stomping on grapes?" Larry joked.

Terri snorted, smirking a little bit at Larry's question.

"Well, you _do _have to kick a lot, not stomp..." She answered him. "Like this..."

She proceeded to show him a few simple flicks and kicks, very basic and signature moves of the jive. She tried to be a lady about it, though...she held the hem of the robe she had on as if it was a dress. She wanted Larry to be able to see her feet clearly.

"It's usually done much faster than that, but we'll take it kind of slow for now, okay?" Terri smiled at him sweetly.

"Okay!" Larry was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. His eyes gleamed with mischief. Terri briefly wondered why he seemed so amused. She concluded that maybe he was the type of person who got giddy when he was nervous or something like that.

"Nice and slow, nice and easy...here we go..." Terri squared up, facing Larry as she prepped him during the juvenile sounding, whistling intro of the song. And then Bobby Day launched into the first verse of the song, and all hell broke loose.

It was like flipping a switch. Larry had gone from zero to sixty (more like zero to one hundred) in half a second. Larry threw himself into the dance, delivering flicks and kicks in a way that could be described as ferocious. The enthusiasm and energy that Terri had gotten a glimpse of a few minutes ago were cranked up all the way up here, going into overdrive. Terri froze in surprise for a split second, before she found herself doubling and then tripling her time in order to keep up with him. She was dancing so hard, she was surprised her robe didn't fall off (as much as Larry would've loved that). She was so glad she had on her pajamas underneath it.

Janet screamed in delight and Jack tossed his head back in laughter. The two of them laughed even harder when Terri and Larry had stopped dancing for a moment and just stared at each other. Terri had her hands on her hips and Larry had folded his arms across his chest. They were sizing each other up, each wondering where the other had learned how to dance like that. Terri was particularly impressed as well as slightly annoyed. Her parents had paid good money and she had invested years and years in dance lessons in order to be able to dance. Where had Larry learned these skills? In a bar? In an alleyway? She could not picture him in a dance class...but still, the jive was a highly stylized dance and she doubted he had picked it up from just anywhere. Deciding they were pretty much evenly matched, Larry held his hands out to her, wanting to join forces.

"Let's cut a rug, Terri!" He grinned at her.

Terri smirked and took his hands. He whirled her around in a he-she turn out into the middle of the living room. Facing Janet and Jack now, the pair danced side by side. They went into a series of flicks and kicks, dancing with just as much gusto as before.

"Wow!" Janet's eyes got huge and round. "Look at them go!"

Jack and Janet looked at Larry and Terri in appreciation. They were quite a sight to behold, an absolute joy to watch. Two opposites with conflicting styles that should not have worked together, but who fed off of each other immensely. Even while pushing herself hard to try and match Larry's energy, Terri was ever the technician and perfectionist...her long, graceful limbs executing each movement with sharpness and precision. Years worth of dance training really shined through here as she was always polished and on the beat. Jack enjoyed the way her messy, blonde ponytail swung wildly when Larry would spin her around...it was like an extension of her energy. Jack could so picture her in a poodle skirt and bobby socks and with a cleaner, neater high ponytail...that look would have gone perfectly with this dance.

Larry on the other hand, was a whole different beast. Whatever he felt, he felt to the extreme and this was no exception. When messing around with the goofy 60's and 70's fad dances earlier, he had been on the beat, but now he was dancing ahead of the beat and hitting every move slightly before he was supposed to...it created an edgy, dangerous and dizzying effect and made Janet and Jack both sweat just watching him. He was so passionate, intense and danced with such a wild sense of abandon, that from afar one could almost mistake his enthusiasm for anger, that is, until you caught the huge smile and look of pure joy lighting up his face...a fierce joy radiating outwards. Where Terri was a very technical dancer, Larry was very much a feeler...he felt and was overtaken by the music and the beat. It was as if the rhythm had gotten into his mind and had driven his body into acting it out at breakneck speed. If he didn't look so happy, it would've been damn terrifying. His spins reminded Jack of a human tornado. He was even more uninhibited than Jack could have imagined. Jack knew he would drop dead trying to dance like that for just 30 seconds...he had no idea how Larry was powering through an entire song like this.

Janet could tell Larry was putting everything he had into this dance, attacking the song and the dance itself as if he was trying to kick some major ass. The way he moved along with his dark hair and piercing dark eyes kind of reminded Janet of Elvis Presley on speed or on a tape being fast forwarded. She loved how the two styles contrasted nicely with one another within the same genre of dance and how well they worked together. She appreciated how Larry's more expressive, urgent, virile and explosive style counterbalanced with Terri's more subdued, dance competition level of perfection. She also liked how they seemed to meet in a sort of middle ground...Terri was really pushing herself and trying hard to let loose and to give up some control, and Larry's natural musicality and sense of rhythm reined in his more wild, frenzied qualities and kept him from losing control completely and stopped him from looking like a total maniac. Janet had sensed a definate energy exchange going on between them, a connection. They were both in the "zone", a trancelike state in which a dancer's body goes into autopilot and just responds to what their partner is doing, no time to think it through or to plan anything. It was kind of cool to watch. She was surprised the floor underneath them hadn't burst into flames yet from the energy they were both putting out.

The song was winding down, the final verse had finished and the song was now on its outro. Larry and Terri went into a series of grapevines and then spins. They finished the song with Larry crouching down onto the floor and Terri sitting on one of his knees with one of her arms flung above her head. It was a full scale performance. Janet and Jack erupted into applause and cheers.

"Oh...my..._God_..." Terri said between breaths, wobbling as she tried to balance herself on Larry's knee. She ended up slipping, starting to fall backwards when Larry caught her around the waist.

"Woah there, are you okay?" Larry asked Terri, keeping a tight grip on her as he stood up, pulling Terri up to her feet in the process. Terri merely stared into his eyes before bursting into laughter, causing Larry to crack up as well. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, picking her up and whirling her around before setting her back down on her feet again, laughing the entire time. Larry was in a state of pure, unbridled joy.

"You guys, that was _amazing_!" Janet breathed, placing a hand to her chest.

"Yeah..." Jack began, eyes wide with surprise. "That was..."

He was cut off as a new song came on...another modern song, which was once again a throwback to an earlier era of music: Grease Is The Word from the soundtrack of the movie Grease, sung by Frankie Valli. Larry snapped his fingers and spun around, easily adjusting his body into the slower, sexier and groovier rhythm of the song.

"Grease is the word, is the word, that you've heard, it's got groove, it's got meaning..." Larry crooned in a soft and sexy tone. He stopped when he noticed everyone looking at him in shock. "What? I have a thing for Frankie Valli..."

Terri shook her head in amazement. She found it endearing that Larry had no clue as to why everyone was looking at him like that. She also couldn't believe that Larry was raring to go again after that extremely high energy performance with only a few moments to catch his breath in between songs. Terri felt exhausted and energized simultaneously. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins and her heart was hammering in her chest at what felt like a hundred miles an hour. She felt very wobbly legged.

"Larry, I think I need to go sit down..." Terri gasped out.

"Oh, right! I forgot you were sick! Sorry about that..." Wrapping an arm around her waist for support, Larry helped Terri over to the sofa. As soon as Larry and Terri sat down, Janet looked over to Jack with pleading eyes. Her inner dancer had come out to play.

"You know, I really loved the movie Grease and I really like this song..." Janet hinted, causing Jack to do a surprised double take.

"If you think I'm going to dance like _those two_..." Jack sputtered, indicating Terri and Larry. "Forget it! I'll end up hurting you..."

"Jack, it's a slower song. It has a really nice beat for a tango. Oh please? Please?" Janet jumped up from the sofa, grabbing onto his hands.

"Come on! Dance with the girl!" Larry encouraged.

Jack groaned, reluctantly letting Janet pull him up to his feet. He didn't know how to dance...at least not while sober, anyway. He was suddenly feeling kind of shy.

"Well, Janet...let's trip the light fantastic!" Jack sighed, making a face as soon as the phrase left his mouth. It just didn't sound right coming from him.

"Okay!" Janet hopped up and down, practically squealing with excitement. "But Jack, honey? You'd better let me lead."

"Naturally." Jack smiled at her.

Janet transformed into the personification of grace, elegance and sophistication before everyone's eyes. She lead Jack around the room in a tasteful, yet sexy mock tango. With Janet taking the lead, Jack found it much easier than he thought it would be...he didn't even step on her feet like he thought he would. As they danced, Janet counted quietly underneath the music in order to keep Jack on the beat.

"I could so get used to this..." Jack sighed dreamily, causing Janet to smile shyly.

"Owww, Janet!" Larry cheered her on, letting his appreciation be known.

"She has amazing legs, doesn't she?" Terri whispered to Larry.

"Yeah, I'll say." Larry stared, fixated. But for once, he wasn't leering...he was just admiring Janet and the way she moved and coached Jack. "Simply beautiful."

Terri and Larry watched Janet effortlessly gliding around the room with Jack, marveling at her understated sex appeal. After a while, Terri turned her attention to Larry. Now that she'd finally caught her breath, she really wanted to know something.

"So, Twinkle Toes..." Terri teased. "How did you...?"

She stopped when she realized that Larry hadn't even heard her. He was still watching Janet and Jack. His whole being was practically vibrating with excitement. She could tell he was just dying to get back out there on the floor.

"Larry?" She tried again, a smidgen louder.

"Hmmm? Oh, hi Terri!" Larry turned to face her and blinked as if he was surprised to find her still next to him.

"So, tell me...where on earth did you learn to jive?" Terri wanted to know.

"Is that what I was doing?" Larry raised his eyebrows, trying to appear innocent.

"You knew _exactly _what you were doing." Terri narrowed her eyes at him playfully.

A huge, triumphant smile appeared on Larry's face and he laughed quietly to himself, extremely pleased at how he'd basically played a huge joke on her.

"Tell me, tell me!" Terri almost whined. She was very impatient.

"I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours." Larry smirked at her, flirting with her just a bit as he used a sing song tone.

"I took lots of dance lessons as a child and I wanted to be a dancer when I was growing up. But then I broke my knee in cheerleading practice in high school, which pretty much ended that dream, so I decided to settle on my second dream of becoming a nurse." Terri confessed, pouting slightly at the memory.

"You broke your knee?" The near constant smile that Larry had on his face all evening had faltered slightly, and then outright disappeared. He looked like he wanted to throw up. "_Ouch_!"

"It was a long time ago." Terri reassured him.

"But still...do you want me to kiss it better for you?" Larry teased, causing Terri to roll her eyes.

"So what about you?" Terri asked him.

"Two words: American Bandstand. It was my favorite show growing up. Watched it religiously as a kid and teen. I picked up a few things from it." Larry stated casually.

"You learned to dance from a TV show?" Terri asked him incredulously.

Larry nodded.

"Wow, I wonder if I can get my parent's money back for all those dance lessons they paid for..." Terri joked.

"What can I say? I'm swinging, in more ways than one." Larry grinned at her impishly. "And it was not money wasted. You were incredible."

Another song came on: Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers. Jack and Janet picked up the pace accordingly. Terri watched them for a moment before thinking about what Larry had just said. Knowing how much he liked corny puns and liked to play around with words, the double meaning of what he had said had just hit her.

"Wait..._swinging_. Does that mean...?" Terri trailed off.

"I have a thing for any kind of swing dance. The jive, lindy hop, boogie woogie, jitterbug. I love it all." Larry smiled, tapping out the beat of the current song that was playing with his fingers.

"Me too!" Terri almost squeaked in excitement. She bit her bottom lip and spoke in a hopeful manner. "What about the charleston?"

"Are you kidding me? I have a whole record collection of 20's music upstairs." Larry pointed up at the ceiling, his eyes glittering with merriment. "Why do you ask?"

"When I feel better, you and I are going to go dancing!" Terri blurted out before she could stop herself. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and followed up her first statement in a more awkward and shy way. "I mean, if you'd like to..."

"I'd _love _to." A huge smile spread across Larry's face, causing Terri to smile back in relief. Larry was beyond thrilled.

The front door burst open and Mr Furley came stomping inside the apartment. Jack and Janet didn't even notice and continued to dance with each other without a care in the world.

"_Who has been stomping like a herd of elephants up here?!_" He demanded, eyes bulging the way they always did when he got angry.

"That would be us..." Larry raised his hand, smiling at Mr Furley. "Well, mostly me..."

Terri giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand. She just loved how Larry owned up to it instantly. The irate landlord marched over to Larry and Terri laughed even harder, feeling like a little girl in school getting into trouble with her teacher by messing around with her best friend by her side. Mr Furley opened his mouth to yell at Larry, but then Larry had shushed him.

"No, don't..." Larry whispered, pointing toward Jack and Janet. "You'll disturb them."

"Now look, Larry." Mr Furley folded his arms across his chest. "I'm fine with you trying to cure Jack by making him dance with Janet, but I am _not _okay with you making such a racket up here!"

"And I'll make it up to you right now, Mr Furley!" Larry sprang up from the couch and dashed into the kitchen. He came back into the living room moments later with a beer bottle in his hand. He handed it to him and then playfully clapped him on the back.

"There you go, have a wonderful time." Larry smiled at him before sitting back down next to Terri on the couch. Mr Furley sputtered as he just stood there, totally confused. Meanwhile, a new song came on: Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets. Terri and Larry glanced at one another, smiling knowingly.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Larry asked her.

Terri nodded eagerly, and then she and Larry jumped up from the couch together.

"I promise not to wing you around too hard, seeing as you're sick and all." Larry winked at her in a lighthearted manner. "I'll save that for next time."

Terri smirked at him. Facing each other, she and Larry went into a fast and furious jitterbug.

Mr Furley gaped, first looking at Jack and Janet and then back at Larry and Terri.

"You people are crazy!" He tried to shout over the music, but no one payed any attention. Grumbling in irritation, Furley had twisted the cap off of his beer bottle and took a swig.

Terri couldn't respond to Furley even if she wanted to, she was laughing too hard. Dancing with Larry this time was just as much fun as it was the last time and it was just as much of a workout too, because it was a double feature...another song by Bill Haley and His Comets followed immediately afterwards called Shake, Rattle and Roll. The two of them danced their butts off to both songs without any break in between. When the two songs were finally over, Larry and Terri had both collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion, laughing in exhilaration. To Terri's surprise, a slow song came on next: a love ballad called Angel Baby by Rosie and The Originals.

Taking a cue from the song's tempo, Jack pulled Janet into a slow dance and Larry got up from the sofa, pulling Terri up with him and getting into the traditional waltz position with her. Terri smiled at him, finding this change in pace rather nice.

Larry looked around the room, almost glowing with happiness. Jack and Janet looked cozy together, he was deliriously happy with Terri and even Mr Furley (who had obviously let that one beer go straight to his head like a true lightweight) appeared to be having a good time dancing by himself and trying to perfect his minuet. This was one of those moments where Larry truly felt high off of life.

"This is so nice..." He sighed, speaking to no one in particular. "I should call up Cindy and get her over here. I'll bet she'd love to be a part of this."

"Ugh..." Janet snorted into Jack's shoulder at the thought of Cindy trying to dance.

"Bad idea, Lar. She'll knock the entire apartment complex down." Jack snickered. He could only imagine the kind of damage she'd cause. He shuddered slightly in horror.

"Hey, she's not as big of a klutz as everyone thinks!" Larry spoke up in defense of the blonde. "You know she thought it was my birthday one night and performed 85 cheerleader routines for me and-"

"Larry?" Terri interrupted him.

"Yeah?" He asked her.

Terri's eyes sparkled with the magic of that night, with the happiness it had brought her. Or maybe it was the NyQuil finally kicking in.

"Shut up and dance with me." She grinned up at him.

"Yes, Terri." Larry laughed, pulling her just a little bit closer.

THE END


End file.
